What's keeping you from picking up the phone and calling
that prospective customer or investor? What makes you sweat bullets
and stammer as you start a sales presentation? What causes you to
sleep in, when you know you should be attending a networking event
that morning? Come on. You know what I'm talking about.
You're scared.of being rejected.

Look, it's OK to admit it. The fear of rejection is a
natural feeling, and all successful entrepreneurs experience it at
some point. That's because we naturally long to be liked and
accepted. We want to know our ideas and actions merit favor from
important people. So we fear the "what ifs"-you know,
what if they say no!

Sean M. Lyden
is the principal and senior writer of The Professional Writing Firm
Inc., a Kennesaw, Georgia, company that specializes in ghostwriting
articles. Lyden writes frequently on motivation, management and
marketing issues.

Get Over It

Clay Sills, 31, can relate. Sills' first start-up didn't
fly-and he acknowledges that his fear of rejection was a key
inhibitor. "You start worrying that people don't want to
talk to you-that people won't like your product," says
Sills, whose new venture, Atlanta-based online learning company
Tcert Inc., has attracted more than $2 million in funding
and employs more than 30 people. "And then you get that
sinking feeling that you won't be able to address their
objections." As a result, no matter how well you know your
business, you come across as lacking confidence in your product or
service-sabotaging your efforts to sell.

If you find yourself consumed with the fear of rejection, how
can you get over it-today!-to increase sales, improve recruiting or
land new funding? We've got four strategies.

1. Count the cost. You want
to call the shots, earn unlimited income and set your own schedule,
right? Then you can't afford to fear rejection. If you find
yourself terrified of making the phone calls you need to make in
order to land new customers or employees or to secure new funding,
ask yourself, "Am I willing to give up my dream for this
fear?" The answer to this question should motivate you to make
those phone calls.

2. Tap your killer instinct.
"I think to myself, 'I'm doing this to beat my
competitor-to get bigger, more successful,' " explains
Sills. "If beating someone weren't important to me, I
wouldn't be able to put enough into [my business] to
win."

3. Affirm rejection.
"Don't look at any single episode as 'defeat,'
" advises Sill, "but as a way of finding out what you
have to do better." Tom Hopkins, in his book, How to Master the Art of Selling,
suggests repeating the following five affirmations, which he calls
"5 Attitudes Toward Rejection."

I never see failure as failure, but only as a
learning experience. I never see failure as failure, but only as the
negative feedback I need [in order] to change course in my
direction. I never see failure as failure, but only as the
opportunity to develop my sense of humor. I never see failure as failure, but only as the
opportunity to practice my techniques and perfect my
performance. I never see failure as failure, but only as the game
I must play to win.

4. Make it a game. Create
your own daily challenge. Identify the activity that intimidates
you the most, and make that your top priority for the day. Then do
it! It's kind of like riding a bike for the first time.
You're scared to death of falling-then you fall, but you get up
thinking "Man, that wasn't so bad!" From that point
on, you're a daredevil. Take the same approach with your
business. When you confront intimidating situations head-on,
you'll find yourself feeling more and more confident.